…enabled me to recognise my surroundings. I was still in the armchair, and before me on the table lay the dessert and wine.”Every vestige of silver had gone; and so had my host and hostess. Here the man on” the bench laughed bitterly. “I was duped, of course!” he added;” the man and the woman were no more Mr. and Mrs. Montague than they were Red Indians! They were part of a gang of notorious burglars who had been wanted for a long time!””Good Heavens!” I cried, *’ they were caught? ‘”Caught, yes” the man on the bench hissed; “seven years apiece, and as for me — I got dismissed! Dismissed! And I have not had the heart to look for another job since!”I gave him five shillings — all I had with me — which he accepted gratefully, and I left him there muttering — muttering that it was…

…or a ‘Tec?”I see I must explain myself,” she said, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting down.”Though I’m living in a big house in Park Lane, Mr. Bailey, I’m a poor woman. My husband has all the money, and not I.” “That doesn’t sound quite fair, ma’am,” I muttered, not knowing exactly what other remark to make.”Fair! Of course it isn’t fair!” she snapped. “Nothing is fair, is it? But come, I’m not here to expatiate on injustice. Have you ever been hard up, Mr. Bailey? You have. Good! Then you can sympathise with me. I am hard up— so hard up that I am anxious to sell my diamonds — a wedding present from my husband — and, being a wedding present and positively the only present he has ever given me, you can understand my difficulty. In short, I want to sell it, but dare…